A backdrop that was originally commissioned for a USA Vogue Magazine photo has found a new home, hanging in the window of R.J Smith Realty on Canal Street. The backdrop was for a series of photos that appeared in conjunction with the magazine's coverage of the 2005 film, Memoirs of a Geisha. The artist, Ellenville resident Charles Broderson, is a giant in his field, producing and licensing such backdrops for clients like American Express and the aforementioned USA Vogue Magazine. "They used a couple of my backdrops, but that one was specially ordered," says Broderson of the shoot.

Broderson, born and raised in Brooklyn, attended the High School of Art and Design, and earned a bachelor's degree in Fine Art from the School of Visual Arts, both in Manhattan, NY. Though he still keeps a studio down in the city, Broderson relocated to Ellenville, citing the beauty of the region as his main motivation, as well as his time spent here on vacation in bungalow colonies growing up. "My mother and father had their honeymoon at the Nevele [in] 1948."

When asked about his main medium, Broderson explains that he uses "matte acrylics on canvas…real paint applied to canvas in the traditional sense. Though, I'm a fairly accomplished digital output person. If you're in commercial art, you have to learn that stuff," he says with a laugh. Broderson describes the process of backdrop painting as usually involving "half a dozen people under the direction of a scenic designer…so it's a big orchestration. My pieces are mainly painted by me, sometimes an assistant or two if it's an ongoing job with a lot of deadlines…but usually it's basically me."

Broderson chose the backdrop from the USA Vogue photo shoot for functional reasons. "It's a window where people would like not to have their light blocked by a prepared canvas…if it was a regular backdrop there, you would not be able to see through it. What's there is called a theatrical scrim that light can pass through, so they're able to still look out the window, sort of like a one-way mirror. And it also, in the summer time, shades the hot sun. I've heard that [the employees] love what it did for the environment." But it's not only functional art. According to Broderson, the translation of the Japanese calligraphy characters on the backdrop relates to the building of a house, so its display in a real estate office is that much more appropriate. "It was just coincidental," but it worked out to a happy accident.

Charles Broderson's backdrop was on display at R.J Realty on Canal Street through the month of July. He can be contacted in Cragsmoor at 845-647-8936, or at info@brodersonbackdrops.com.